Laminate/Acrylic Or Wood Cabinets?

amother

Wed, Jun 07 2023, 2:29 pm

What is being done more these days?
I'm getting a lot of differing opinions.
Especially from the kitchen places, they each are telling me something else.
I am looking for a semi custom kitchen, with lazy susans pull out drawers etc but nothing crazy.
My most important factor is quality and that it should last.
My old kitchen's hardware was a piece of junk and it all fell apart really quickly.
So really I would love to just hear some people's experiences with the different finishes and any other info I should know when reaching out to stores.
Also, any BP recs?

amother

Chartreuse

Wed, Jun 07 2023, 2:36 pm

David hershkowitz at exquisite kitchens

He's honest, reliable and well priced. He sells all types of cabinets so he won't push you one way or the other but he will help you understand the pros and cons of each.

amother

Snowflake

Wed, Jun 07 2023, 2:37 pm

We redid our kitchen almost 15 years ago with solid wood cabinets and they are still in very good shape. I don't have any experience with laminate or acrylic, but from the research I did wood was more durable in the long term.

amother

Khaki

Wed, Jun 07 2023, 2:52 pm

amother Chartreuse wrote:

He's anything but honest. He's loves your pocket. Talking from my experience and my sisters experience.
He does sell all types but he definitely has some agenda

Amarante

Wed, Jun 07 2023, 2:53 pm

I have wood cabinets - mine are white oak stained medium and I love them.

In general either wood stained cabinets or painted cabinets are what are considered to be desirable and higher end.
Formica cabinets seem to be popular with imamothers but in my experience not so popular outside of that.

Honestly get what you like - take some time and google pictures of kitchens and see which ones instinctively make your heart sing. Remodeling a kitchen is a huge investment of money and so you should go into it having researched thoroughly so that you can understand what is being sold to you..

High quality cabinets are high quality because of the construction - there are certain indicia of a high quality cabinet construction as well as design. For example, lower drawers are more expensive than doors but are so much more functional.

amother

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 8:47 am

Amarante wrote:

Right, the bolded is what was confusing me a lot. In my circles so many more people are doing the formica for years but when I look on houzz I can barely find a single kitchen and I feel like all the high end ones are wood.
I'm leaning towards a slim shaker look, now I would just love to hear other people's recommendations and experiences.

amother

Chartreuse

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 8:56 am

amother Khaki wrote:

He's anything but honest. He's loves your pocket. Talking from my experience and my sisters experience.
He does sell all types but he definitely has some agenda

Just curious. If you had such a bad experience why would your sister use him also?

Amarante

Thu, Jun 08 2023, 10:08 am

amother OP wrote:

What kind of recommendations do you want?

I don't understand what you are looking for.

Formica cabinets are a certain style and aren't particularly fashionable except on imamother.

You ask what are people doing - you know that people in your circles seem to be using formica but formica kitchens are not generally viewed as attractive outside of this limited world. I look at them and they are very institutional looking to me

There are high quality wood stained cabinets - also high quality painted cabinets but painted cabinets are considered to be a bit more "delicate" than wood stain

Quality construction has much to do with how cabinets are actually made and there are indicia of quality. You can have wood doors which are used with cheaper construction or high quality construction.

What is the different advice you are getting specifically?